Lyndon Johnson’s go-to gift

President Lyndon Johnson met with Pope Paul VI on Dec 23, 1967. The two spoke for over an hour and then exchanged gifts. The Pope gave Johnson a sixteenth-century painting of the Nativity. Johnson, in return, gave the Pope a small bust of himself, Lyndon Johnson.

Pope Paul VI admiring the LBJ bust he just received

It struck people at the time (and ever since) as odd for Johnson to give a bust of himself as a gift to the Pope. But, in fact, the Pope wasn't the only recipient of this bust. It was Johnson's go-to gift for just about everyone: world leaders, congressmen, white house aides, etc. He traveled with a box of them, so he would always have one at hand.

The busts were replicas of a lifesize bust created by sculptress Jimilu Mason. In case you'd like to give one as a gift, they're available for purchase from the Johnson Presidential Library — only $150 each.

More info: Dead Presidents blog

Jimilu Mason poses with her bust of LBJ

Arizona Republic - Jan 14, 1968

Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 06, 2021 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Statues and Monuments, Gifts, Presents, Tributes, and Other Honoraria, 1960s

Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 38

The artist's Wikipedia entry.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 04, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Outsider Art, Surrealism, 1930s

Portrait With Hydrogen Peroxide Strips

More photos here.

As you can see, Mister Wilson uses a variety of other objects as well in his art.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Aug 31, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Art, Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Sticky, Messy, Sloppy, Drippy, Treacly Things

Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 37

Moore's Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 28, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Statues and Monuments, 1950s, United Kingdom

Ferdi Jansen

The artist's homepage. Sadly, she died very young in 1969.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 16, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Art, 1960s, Genitals

Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 36

"Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst with his sculpture, Capricorn, 1947"

Foto source.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 13, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Surrealism, Statues and Monuments, Husbands, Wives, 1940s

Uncle Sam Eagle

Happy Fourth of July!

Mary E. Harris of San Francisco was so proud of her patriotic idea of grafting the face of Uncle Sam onto the body of a bald eagle, that she decided to patent it, receiving US Design Patent No. 51415 in 1917.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 04, 2021 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Holidays, Patriotism, Patents

The Art of Jacques Resch

No Wikipedia entry, so: his Facebook Page.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 09, 2021 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Surrealism

The Invisible statues of Salvatore Garau

The Italian artist Salvatore Garau has been creating "invisible statues". The 'statues' are simply squares drawn on the ground with white ribbon.

He just sold one of them for 15,000 euros. Garau says that even though you may not see the statue, it exists. "It is made of air and spirit".

Would this fit into Paul's category of artwork that Khrushchev probably wouldn't like?

More info: Garau's instagram page, courier

Posted By: Alex - Mon May 31, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Art, Statues and Monuments

Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 35

The artist's Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Thu May 27, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, 1920s, Russia